10 Big Companies Hiring The Most In Marketing Right Now

Things are slowly improving on the jobs front—but plenty of recession-weary businesses remain hesitant to expand their payrolls today. Still, though hiring hasn’t picked up in all areas, there are some bright spots for marketing professionals.

Hiring in this field isn’t as robust as it was last year at this time—but some of America’s largest corporations are looking to fill hundreds of marketing positions right now, according to online job aggregator Indeed.com.

"We observed that marketing jobs were improving in the first quarter of 2012, but have been slowing down over the past few months,” says Peter DeLegge, CEO of Marketing Today and MarketingHire.com. However, the hiring picture is still brighter than it was during the financial crisis.

For a second consecutive year, Forbes and Indeed.com have collaborated to put together a list of the 10 companies with the most marketing job postings right now. The picture we offer does not reflect a precise number of available jobs, because an opening can be listed in more than one place and can remain online for a time after it’s filled. Nevertheless, the numbers do offer a strong, broad gauge of which companies are expanding and taking on the most new marketing professionals.

Heading the list with more than 120 unique job postings for marketing-type positions is Sears Holdings Corp. The retailer landed at the top of the heap last year, as well.

Sears’ current marketing job postings reflect a variety of marketing activities. Listed positions include marketing managers, DVP, Chief Marketing Officer of Home Fashion and Footwear, and in-store marketing representatives at their various retail locations. Some of these jobs are part-time and only require a high school diploma—however; many are full-time positions that require BA, BS or MBA degrees and three to seven years of experience in marketing or brand management.

“Our company is focused on becoming a leader in integrated retail; therefore, we continue to look for candidates who possess skills in both traditional and emerging marketing channels to help us achieve this goal," says Kimberly Freely, a spokesperson for Sears.

The Illinois-based corporation is one of the nation’s largest broadline retailers with 3,900 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada – and they’re looking to fill 123 marketing roles right now.

Open positions at NBC include marketing managers, marketing directors and marketing analysts, among others. The media and entertainment company is also in the process of filling marketing internship positions for the fall.

Michael Werch, a spokesperson for Indeed.com, says the site’s data supports this sentiment. “[Our] job trends show employer demand for digital marketing professionals has risen sharply over the past three years and remains very strong.”

But despite the wealth of openings across various industries, it can be tough to land these coveted marketing positions.

It takes a special set of skills to be successful in finding and keeping a marketing job. “The internet has changed the marketing field dramatically, and employers are now looking for candidates who are internet savvy, have the ability to communicate through various media, particularly social media, and those who can understand metrics and how they correlate to the bottom line,” DeLegge says.

Forster agrees. He says marketers must be “proficient in using the many new marketing channels available to them and be able to quantify their results. Effective online marketing requires an analytical approach and continuous optimization.”

Werch adds: “Companies need different types of candidates depending on the product or service being marketed, but strong written and verbal communication skills and a creative mind-set are universally valued.”

Marketing is one of the most competitive departments, in terms of getting in, at most companies, DeLegge says. He suggests that young job seekers do internships, get experience through pro bono work, and network aggressively.

“It’s also imperative that marketing job candidates are engaged in social media because it’s such a valuable tool in marketing now,” he adds. “Whether or not the economy improves in the next few years, I still believe the majority of new marketing jobs will be tied to digital marketing and social media.”